et

Forms

et ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *eti, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁éti (“still, also, beyond”).^[2][1] De Vaan suggests that the PIE adverb may be an old locative of a root noun from *h₁et- (“go beyond”).^[2]

Cognate with Umbrian et (“and”) (which joins phrases, not sentences) and Paelignian et (“and”),^[2] Gaulish eti (“yet, still”), Sanskrit अति (áti, “beyond, over”), Ancient Greek ἔτι (éti, “still, further”) and Gothic 𐌹𐌸 (iþ, “but”).^[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in the Twelve Tables and in Livius Andronicus.^[2][4] De Vaan holds that it was first used to add something to what had just been said, or to mark one action following another; only later did it take over the work of the enclitic -que as the ordinary word for “and”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The adding sense survives in Classical Latin: et can mean “also, too” or “even” before a single word, and non solum … sed et “not only … but also”.^[3][5] As a plain conjunction it joins words, phrases and sentences, and repeated et … et means “both … and”.^[3][5]

Inscriptions of the 2nd century AD already write e, and later ones ed and assimilated forms.^[3][6] It passed into the Romance languages, as Italian e, Old French et and Romanian e.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 450 BC – Used in the Twelve Tables.^[2][4]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for “and what is more” and “also, too”.^[3][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses et to introduce the minor premise of a syllogism.^[3][4]
• AD 138 – An inscription spells it e.^[3]

Meanings

Conjunction

1. and (joining words, phrases, clauses or sentences); et … et, both … and.^[3][5]
2. And what is more, and … too (adding an afterthought); et is, et quidem, and that too.^[3]
3. And indeed, and in fact (opening an emphatic sentence or a parenthesis).^[3]
4. And even, or rather (adding a wider or corrected statement); after a negative, and on the contrary.^[3]
5. (in dialogue) And I too, and so too.^[3]

Adverb

1. also, too, likewise.^[3][5]
2. even.^[3]

Word family

• etenim
• etiam
• etsī

Usage notes

Döderlein calls et the most general copulative particle.^[7] Both -que and et … et join opposites, -que simply as a pair (terrā marīque), et … et to stress the contrast (et terrā et marī), while atque and ac join near-synonyms.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper